Minimalism. I love it. Why? Because hoarding runs in my family. Because owning too much stuff takes up too much of my energy. Because life is for living, not cleaning.
Okay, you guessed it. It’s not easy to do. It takes more than a decision. Minimalism is a mindset and a journey. A personal value. A practice.
It takes time and patience. That’s right: it won’t happen overnight. I’m a solid 5 years in.
I can finally say that I’m making some headway. How do I know? I don’t get as overwhelmed; my house isn’t blowing up as often and my messes are more manageable to clean up now.
But, the biggest sign that I’m making progress is that I can finally focus more on my own interests, hobbies, and goals.
Hoarding runs in my family
I know I’m not alone on this one. In my family, hoarding and mental illness went hand-in-hand.
As you can imagine, I don’t want to repeat history. Adopting minimalism as a coping strategy may be swinging in the opposite direction. But, I don’t want to trigger bad memories and I definitely don’t want to feel like a hoarder.
Trauma from childhood or ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) stays with us our whole lives. Sleeping in the back of our minds, triggering events can bring it forward.
To top it off, as we grow older we often endure more stressful life events that begin to compound. I’ve had at least three more major long-term life stressors.
Toxic stress from ACEs and other stressors can weaken our stress-response systems. Managing stress becomes more challenging. That’s why I have adopted minimalism. Reducing the physical and mental stressors in my environment helps me to manage my life.
Unfortunately, ACEs are common. According to the CDC, “About 61% of adults surveyed across 25 states reported they had experienced at least one type of ACE before age 18, and nearly 1 in 6 reported they had experienced four or more types of ACEs.or ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences,)”
Minimalism is my chosen coping strategy. It helps me to keep my life simple and less complicated.
Too Much Stuff = Too Much Energy
At any stage of life, whether you have a single room, an apartment, or a house, you can own too much stuff to handle. And, I’m sure you’ll agree that as time goes by your belongings grow.
In my garage, surrounded by mountains of displaced stuff, I was suffocating. Year after year, weekend after weekend, I sacrificed my life to the organization of stuff.
I was so tired of it! Enough already!
But, with the help of my family, I finally achieved creating my minimalist garage. This was a huge accomplishment for me. Now, I only have to sweep and dust. Not reorganize or wade through tons of storage. As a matter of fact, my goal was to have a storage-free garage. This idea seemed unthinkable, but with determination, we did it.
If you want tips on how to create a storage-free minimalist garage, Click on this link.
Life is for living, not cleaning
Cleaning and organizing. It’s a national obsession. So much so that we have popular books, movies, and Netflix series all directed at how to do it better. Obviously, people need help with it.
The truth is that cleaning and organizing are two different things. We’re all aware that we must clean up after ourselves every day. It is non-negotiable and it’s a ton of work!
Throw organizing in there and you’ve just doubled your time and energy investment. When you own too much, you have to spend a lot of time organizing before you can clean.
In the past when I hired a housekeeper, it regularly took me 3 hours to put everything away before they arrived!
Didi
Years ago, my aunt once told me, “I used to wash the walls every week.” I understood her point. She was young. Looking back, she thought it was silly and unimportant. She was teaching me her lesson.
Now, I’m at a similar point in my life. I’m sick of it! I don’t want to do it anymore! But . . . I know I have to. Clean, that is. Luckily, major organizing tasks are now a thing of the past.
Click this link to find out how I discovered the true causes of clutter.
Family Members & minimalism
Getting the people who live in your house to accept minimalism can be challenging. So, I try to keep focused on my goals and move forward, hoping that others will come to like and accept the path that I’m on. After all, I’m on a journey. I’m still learning every day. Practice, practice, practice.
Fun Fact: Recently, my husband told me a story about his friend who was in the middle of moving, complaining that he had too much stuff.
The next thing I know, my husband is bragging about me, how I like minimalism, and that my minimalism rule is “1-3 items per flat surface.”
Yesss!!!
Dealing with Judgement
Some people think that minimalism is a foo-foo upper-class desire. They don’t respect it and they don’t get it.
Other people think that since you are a minimalist, you might be judging them.
So, in my view, I try to keep minimalism as my personal value. I don’t go around advertising it to other people. One thing is for sure, I don’t make requests of people to do anything different for me. I don’t put parameters on what I want to receive; If I am given a gift, I accept it gratefully.
Conclusion
- Minimalism is a value, a mindset, and a practice.
- Minimalism is my personal value – I value “minimalism”. I value having a simple, peaceful home.
- A minimalist mindset helps me lay the foundation to set my goal.
- Minimalism is a journey – It takes time and practice.
- Minimalism reduces stress at home!
- Minimalism saves you energy!
- Minimalism makes cleaning easier!
Home should be the place where you are most at peace. Minimalism is the tool I use to create my joyful, peaceful, simple intentional life.